Trash

Fifty trucks will spend five months hauling Lahaina wildfire debris to a landfill in the center of Maui starting next Monday. Maui County says there's enough debris to fill five football fields five stories high.

The City and County of Honolulu is waiting for the governor to decide whether he will let a state bill take effect that would further narrow site options for a new Oʻahu landfill. If the law goes into effect, the city says it will likely extend its operations at Waimanalo Gulch in West Oʻahu.

State lawmakers passed hundreds of bills this week. That’s a lot to keep track of, so with the legislative session over as of Friday evening, HPR is narrowing it down to the important bills we’ve been tracking.

A group of Maui volunteers is on a mission to reduce the volume of unused clothing getting dumped in the landfill, especially in the wake of overflowing wildfire donations. HPR’s Catherine Cluett Pactol joined them as they took a day to weed through the mountain of clothes.

A microplastics study on some Oʻahu beaches led to an unexpected collaboration. The Conversation spoke with scientist Astrid Delorme and Waimānalo cultural practitioner Kimeona Kāne.

The state measure is largely a response to the City and County of Honolulu's plans to site its next landfill in Wahiawā — on farmland and near a drinking water aquifer.

House Bill 348 would ban small single-use plastic bottles in hotels, motels, and bed and breakfasts — essentially any place with 50 or more lodging rooms — starting next year. Once 2028 rolls around, this ban will apply to any location that provides one or more rented rooms for lodging.

In December, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s administration announced plans to site Oʻahu’s new landfill in Wahiawā. The controversial decision would place the facility on agricultural land and over an aquifer that supplies drinking water to the island.

Volunteers from the Surfrider Foundation on Kauaʻi collected more than 162,902 pounds of marine debris and trash from beaches and coastlines in 2024.

A major milestone has been reached in the removal of Lahaina's fire debris. As HPR's Catherine Cluett Pactol reports, attention is now turning to moving debris from the temporary site to its permanent disposal location in Central Maui.